NICE TO MEET YOU EVERYBODY!
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| Wed, 03-21-2007 - 3:01am |
Oh boy oh BOY!
First of all my apologies in advance for the LONG post... I've been a Long time Lurker here (ivillage and this board) for YEARS - LITERALLY...and now I'm not lurking anymore...because I FINALLY BOOKED DISNEY! WOOOOHOOOO
I have like a gazillion questions for you ladies, and I promise I'll start pouring them out to ya really soon (like, tomorrow!) But for now, I just wanted to introduce myself and my travel companions: DH and DS8 (9 when we travel) This is SO MUCH FUN!
We'll be at the ASMusic (not the suites, just a regular ol' room) August 7-16 (yes, NINE nights!! It was going to be seven nights but then I found MUCH cheaper plane tickets if I moved the date...the difference was enough to make up for the hotel for two additional nights!) DH and I have been before (in 2000) but this is the first time for DS (he's been to DisneyLAND but not since he was 5) I can't wait and I'm going to plan my brains off! LOL Already am...signed up for Tour Guide you-know-who, and am planning on getting a Passporter and oh BOY!!! :)
So far, here's what I have for an itinerary:
Tues 7th Land, Magical Express, check in, chill at the pool, eat at the food court, bed early. OK I know I said that my questions would come later but might as well...we'll be flying red-eye from the night before from Oregon so we'll be super tired. We're also on a Budget (with a capital B)...for these two reasons I chose to forego the HDDR, but is there something else we might do close to our hotel that won't take a long time? I fear venturing to DTD on the first day might be too much...probably just walking around the AS hotels taking pictures etc (and of course the pool) would be enough? We get there at noonish. What do you think?
Wed 8th MK - Crystal Palace 8:05 ADR (Yes! Was lucky to get that even way after the 180 day mark!), rope drop at Tomorrowland, grab FP for Space Mountain and ride Indy Speedway (DS's TOP MUST attraction) and Buzz at least twice each, for starters :)
Thu 9th MGM - Be there early for FP for Rock and Roller Coaster (for the boys only, I did that once in 2000 and that was enough for me!), then ride Tower of Terror with them, then they'll probably go on RandRC again while I fetch us some Time Guides and plan the rest of the day (can those be found ahead of time, perhaps first day at the hotel, or even sooner?) We also have an early lunch ADR (11:00) at the 50's PT cafe! (In 2000 we were at the SciFi so wanted to try something different). I'm trying to decide whether or not to get the Hollywood & Vine Fantasmic for that night, but haven't done that yet...
Fri 10th and Sat 11th EPCOT...two full days - my dream come true! I LOVE Epcot and while DS is not too excited about WS (although the prospect of a passport to collect stamps on seemed to make a little difference) I KNOW I'll have to drag him out of Innoventions and probably ride TestTrack more than once :) We have NO ADR's (!) for those two days mainly because of Budget but also because I like the idea of snacking all over the place instead of sitting down to a meal...now that I heard that Alfredo's in italy is closing forever at the end of August though, we might dine there for old time's sake (DH and I were there in 2000). My question of the day for that park is WHERE is your recommended spot to watch IllumiNations?
Sun 12th is DHs bday and that and the next day is our 2-day mid-trip break from the parks...well the four major parks at least...we're planning sleeping in some (we're usually early morning people) then DTD (possibly DQuest for the two of them while I shop)during the day, then on Sat DS will be going to the Sandcastle club while DH and I dine at Spoodles (we've never been...is this a good choice???I could still try and change ADRs!) and explore the Boardwalk (What's the name of the dueling pianos place? And what is the Dancing place like? what kind of music?) Then Monday we'll probably do some more lounging around/DTD (possibly a resort hop on the Monorail?) then Blizzard Beach in the afternoon/evening. Again no ADRs for this day...we're not going on the Dining Plan b/c we think it won't be cost effective (we think we can get by with one sit down meal a day even if it's CS, then snacking around the rest of the time, besides breakfast in the room or at the food court super early each morning to make it to the rope drops -- does this sound realistic? In 2000 I know we did lots of trail mix type snacks during shows etc (I just carried the baggies in my bag) but also had a sit down meal each day for sure. Back then we went with DHs three grown kids and one of them had just given up hiking the Pacific Trail after a couple of days so we had TONS of trail mix, power bars, etc LOL
OK did I ever get sidetracked...Tues 14th it's AK and we have ADRs early for Donalds Breakfastosaurus (sp?) before rope drop also. Where is this located exactly from the gates? Will we make it to the opening ceremony with Rafiki? DH and DS of course want to rush to Expedition Everest but I'm afraid that all this running for thrill rides will make us miss the charm of the surroundings (same thing at MGM with running to ToT and RaRC instead of taking in HollywoodBlvd) -you ladies kwim? And how to deal with that?!
Finally our last full day Wed 15th we're at MK again for repeat rides of favorites (this time starting the day with MY and DHs favorites, Thunder Mtn and Jungle Cruise..not all that Tomorrowland stuff my DS wants, LOL) and staying for Spectro and Wishes (the first day, we may, or we may not! Depending on heat and stamina...DS usually is an early to bed kid...otherwise gets grouchy towards the evening hours!)
The last morning we don't even have to be at the airport until 4pm...so I'm looking for ideas for then also...but probably will just stay at the hotel pool again.
So this is it for now please ladies critique away! There is so much left to plan for/change! I'm having SO much fun already! Thanks in advance and thanks for all the awesome tips I've found here already for the past several months (including from the archives :)
Barbara

It's nice to meet you too - I am glad you de-lurked!
Where did you find your music note siggy?
Carole
Carole
The music note icon was right there at the bottom of the choices for new users.Maybe they added it recently? I added a new username because...well, long story. Looking forward to doing a whole lot of posting here from now till August at least! :)
It sounds like you already have a lot of great plans.
Thank you Shay! (And everyone else). I "know" you from Lurking at another board too (I'll make sure to stop and say hi there also, sometime soon, now that my long-time Lurking days seem to be over :)
I'm going to try and make the Fantasmic ADR. My issue with that was, I know I'm in the vast minority, but Fantasmic didn't "do it" for me the first time. I never was a Fantasia fan to begin with...and I sat up on the very back row in a wheel chair with a sprained ankle in a cast...the characters on those boats at the end looked so Tiny! SO I was looking forward to an early evening to rest instead...but my DH missed it last time (he was on the thrill rides then...and this time he graciously said "whatever you recommend, I trust your judgement") and DS of course hasn't ever seen it...so I didn't feel right about skipping it.
Shay wrote: >There are quite a few great spots to see IllumiNations. Mexico has a CS restaurant with seats that are in high demand. If this interests you, you have to stake out your spot WAY early. There are many spots all around the lake, you just have to watch out for trees in your view and other people jumping in front of you.
Thanks! I don't know if we'll be up for staying THAT long in one spot ahead of time...but it's good to know, and I probably wouldn't have thought about the trees! Anyone else have favorite IllumiNations-watching spots?
Welcome and congrats on your trip! I noticed that your user name indicates you are from Oregon and wanted to point out, in case you haven't thought about it, that there is a significant time difference between your area and Florida. I know you mentioned that your DS goes to bed early, but will likely have no trouble staying up for the night time shows because of the time difference. I am counting on that working to our advantage on our trip next month :) But, on the down side, that means getting up extra early too.
Have a great time!
Charis